Patients who receive a simple, multicolor, standardized medication instruction sheet before surgery are more likely to comply with their physician’s instructions and experience a significantly shorter post-op stay in recovery. These findings are important because surgical patients often fail to follow their doctor’s medication instructions for preexisting conditions such as diabetes and hypertension on the day they are having surgery – a costly mistake that can lead to surgery cancellation, complications and longer hospital stays.

Share This

A study in the July issue of Anesthesiology revealed that patients who receive a simple, multicolor, standardized medication instruction sheet before surgery are more likely to comply with their physician's instructions and experience a significantly shorter post-op stay in recovery. These findings are important because surgical patients often fail to follow their doctor's medication instructions for preexisting conditions such as diabetes and hypertension on the day they are having surgery -- a costly mistake that can lead to surgery cancellation, complications and longer hospital stays.

Related Articles

"Certain long-term medications should be continued on the day of surgery, and some should be temporarily stopped, but there is no consistency in how patients receive medication instructions before surgery," said Thomas Vetter, M.D., M.P.H., ASA member and study lead author, Department of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham. "Physician anesthesiologists are responsible for assessing and optimizing patients' preoperative medications, including maximizing their compliance with physicians' instructions. Our effort to enhance patients' understanding of medication use before surgery is important and can increase patient satisfaction by more actively engaging them in their own health care."

The study compared 519 surgical patients who were given preoperative medication instructions through traditional methods (annotated or highlighted portions of the patient's electronic medical record, or verbal instructions) and 531 patients who were given a written, standardized preoperative medication instruction sheet, which was presented and verbally reviewed with patients. The instruction sheet listed all of the medications the patient was instructed to take on the day of surgery (e.g., beta-blocker, etc.), the medications the patient should not take (e.g., blood-thinner, etc.), and the medications that could be taken as needed (e.g., opioid, etc.). The instruction sheet included multicolor graphics to further improve patient recall and compliance.

Researchers found that 74 percent of patients who received an instruction sheet were compliant with their medication instructions on the day of surgery, versus 60 percent of patients in the control group. Patients were also less likely to stay in recovery after surgery for more than 90 minutes when an instruction sheet was administered. Interestingly, African-Americans, older adults (over 65) and patients with more than one chronic disease had lower medication compliance, the authors note.

"Physician anesthesiologists and nurse practitioners typically deliver a lot of verbal information to patients preoperatively, often exceeding patients' short-term memory," said Dr. Vetter. "Our findings show that providing patients with a standardized instruction sheet, both written and verbally, with simple language can improve compliance significantly. However, we speculate that a more concerted effort may be required to improve preoperative medication compliance in certain patients such as the geriatric population."

More From ScienceDaily

More Health & Medicine News

Featured Research

Mar. 3, 2015 — Scientists have discovered a new hormone that fights the weight gain caused by a high-fat Western diet and normalizes the metabolism -- effects commonly associated with exercising. When tested in ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — New assays can detect malaria parasites in human blood at very low levels and might be helpful in the campaign to eradicate malaria, reports a new study. An international team led by Ingrid Felger, ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — Adults over the age of 30 only catch flu about twice a decade, a new study suggests. So, while it may feel like more, flu-like illness can be caused by many pathogens, making it difficult to assess ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — No significant change in home habits of smokers have been observed in the aftermath of a ban on smoking in public spaces, researchers report. Greater inspiration to kick the habit likely comes from ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — Heart function has been associated with the development of dementia and Alzheimer's disease through a new study. Participants with decreased heart function, measured by cardiac index, were two to ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — Children of recently separated or divorced families are likelier to drink sugar-sweetened beverages than children in families where the parents are married, putting them at higher risk for obesity ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — Gastric bypass and similar stomach-shrinking surgeries are a popular option for obese patients looking to lose weight or treat type 2 diabetes. While the surgeries have been linked to a decreased ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — Most people consume more salt than they need and therefore have a higher risk of heart disease and stroke, which are the two leading causes of death worldwide. But a new study reveals that dietary ... full story

Featured Videos

Mom Triumphs Over Tragedy, Helps Other Families

AP (Mar. 3, 2015) — After her son, Dax, died from a rare form of leukemia, Julie Locke decided to give back to the doctors at St. Jude Children&apos;s Research Hospital who tried to save his life. She raised $1.6M to help other patients and their families. (March 3)
Video provided by AP

Looted and Leaking, South Sudan's Oil Wells Pose Health Risk

AFP (Mar. 3, 2015) — Thick black puddles and a looted, leaking ruin are all that remain of the Thar Jath oil treatment facility, once a crucial part of South Sudan&apos;s mainstay industry. Duration: 01:13
Video provided by AFP

Woman Convicted of Poisoning Son

AP (Mar. 3, 2015) — A woman who blogged for years about her son&apos;s constant health woes was convicted Monday of poisoning him to death by force-feeding heavy concentrations of sodium through his stomach tube. (March 3)
Video provided by AP

Related Stories

Oct. 13, 2014 — Researchers are one step closer to confirming what people in New Orleans have known for decades: Jazz is good for you. Patients undergoing elective hysterectomies who listened to jazz music during ... full story

June 25, 2014 — Patients who have post-operative complications following high-risk surgery have a significantly lower risk of being readmitted to the hospital within 30 days if they go see their primary care ... full story

June 10, 2014 — In a study that included long-term follow-up of obese patients with type 2 diabetes, bariatric surgery was associated with more frequent diabetes remission and fewer complications than patients who ... full story

Mar. 7, 2014 — A simple surgical procedure on the kidneys touted as a revolutionary treatment for high blood pressure turns out to be not so revolutionary after all. In a first its kind, a Norwegian clinical trial ... full story

Dec. 8, 2013 — Resective surgery is an effective treatment for drug-resistant epilepsy. To investigate the effect of epilepsy surgery on patients lives, researchers conducted a long-term retrospective follow up of ... full story

ScienceDaily features breaking news and videos about the latest discoveries in health, technology, the environment, and more -- from major news services and leading universities, scientific journals, and research organizations.